Knack Is Like Katamari Damacy Meets A Brawler For PlayStation 4

Goblins are invading the Earth and the planet’s savior is a magical creature made of sparkly things. That’s the concept of Knack, which is developed by Sony’s Japan Studio and Mark Cerny, lead architect on the PlayStation 4.

I played Knack at E3 and the the game started with goblins shooting purple goo at Knack. His main attacks are punches so you have to close distance. Knack borrows the right analog stick evade controls from God of War, so you can flick the stick left or right to weave towards a goblin. Once you’re in range it takes about three hits to defeat it. Also like God of War, Knack uses a fixed camera.

Knack is entirely composed of relic pieces and if a goblin hits Knack he drops some relics. You can see holes on Knack where relics should be and blue electricity zapping between missing parts. When Knack loses relics he becomes weaker. The size of Knack’s life bar shrinks and he does less damage. Throughout the stage, there are machines you can smash to get more relics. Picking up relics increases the amount of damage he does and increases his size. After collecting two stashes of relics, Knack only needed to hit a goblin once to defeat it. Goblins riding mecha still took a couple of hits to defeat even when Knack grew to about the same size. Knack also has special attacks like a turning into a tornado that’s proportional to his size and a super move tied to yellow crystals you can smash.

The E3 demo also had an indoor area where you need to drop all of your relics to sneak past lasers. This makes Knack tiny and drops his life bar down to one hit. After passing through the lasers you can reclaim the relics and grow back in size.

Knack starts out around three meters tall, but can grow up to 30 meters. It’s kind of like playing Katamari Damacy, but instead of rolling things up with a giant ball you’re beating them up.

Knack has gadgets and crystal relics hidden in sixty secret rooms spread out in the game. Crystal relics unlock other forms like Vampire Knack and Diamond Knack. Gadgets are rare items that you need to assemble by finding different parts. Knack has a social element that lets players share parts found by their friends.

I do like that comparison, it seems like a lot of fun and remind me of Wonderful 101.
It’d be especially neat if each item had some unique effect like equipment in RPGs do, attack up/defense down, etc.

http://linkapics.tumblr.com/ Linka

This is gonna be my first game for the console if it’s a day one title.

Yeah, this looks like one hell of a fun game. I can expect great things if its made by Mark Cerny, who’s had a hand in other great platform games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, to name a few.

http://linkapics.tumblr.com/ Linka

insert laughter here

The original three Spyro the Dragon games were some of my favorite PS1 titles, and Jak & Daxter/Ratchet & Clank are series I’m gonna be playing into soon enough, so I’d say at least I have a little bit of a basis as to what I’m going to expect out of this game (fun characters, interesting worlds, a level of exploration and fun gameplay you can ease into).

Also, really, I just love the whole “collect relics that get added to Knack” part. It might be in a part a ploy of “LOOK AT HOW MANY POLYGONS WE CAN DO AT THE SAME TIME” but I enjoy the concept enough of it.

I’m loving how it’s looking so far. Very vibrant and I like the relic gathering effect. It’s nice to see some form of secret areas leading to power ups, too. Going out of your way and getting a reward for it? Super cool.

Solomon_Kano

Yea, it really feels like a game in the vein of Cerny’s other involvements. Looking forward to it.

Solomon_Kano

Yea, it’s a launch title. The one I’m most interested in, too. Character platformers <3.

coffeetable

“This is gonna be my first game for the console if it’s a day one title.”

Also I like that the article notes that the game feels very Pixar-y– and that apparently it’s a noted inspiration! I thought I was just imagining things. XD

Ereek

This one really caught my attention during the Sony conference. The style is wonderful, it reminds me of older platformers. I may be setting my standards up too high because it, but it’s definitely looking to be one of the more interesting early PS4 exclusives.

http://www.segalization.com/ Kuronoa

Thought this was a platformer, still pleased with info on the game.

Neophoton

Having Cerny on board has me at ease knowing it’ll at least be a solid title. I’ve already preordered this on Amazon.

Isaac Newton

I want this game badly Period.

http://LevelUpGeneration.blogspot.com/ KALiverin

It’s nice to see that stylized games like this are still being made for the next generation. I find that next gen graphics suit these kinds of games a lot better than all of the gritty, realistic stuff they showed off.

Herok♞

Well that I know more about it I will get it with the PS4 day one if possible.

Taylor Davis

I can’t wait to get this game! I don’t understand why a lot of people don’t like it? The love the style of it. But I’m glad more people here like it, than some people of YouTube and few other sites :D

Gilgamesh2025

The game looks so good! I’m excited! :)

ZekeFreek

As long as Knack doesn’t have Katamari’s bullshit controls, fine. I swear Katamari is a great premise ruined by shit controls.

Göran Isacson

Stylized graphics instead of PHOTOREALISM, a fun use of gameplay mechanics, and a creator that’s proven he knows his business?

Why is this game compared to Katamari Damacy? The only similarity is how little components known as artifacts can stick to the body of the protagonist to make him larger, faster, and stronger. However, these items are spread out throughout the level and very limited in supply unlike whatever can stick to a Katamari. Outside of that, the two games plays nothing alike. The “brawler” aspect is the core mechanic as ranged attacks are very limited.

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